Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation Review

IMBB Sponsered Product Review

Don’t you love it when you finally get what you had been lemming for a long time? Thanks to IMBB, I am able to try stuff which has been on my lustlist for ages but hadn’t found its way to my vanity case. Each time I use my ShuUemura Cleansing Oil (reviewed earlier) – I say a BIG thank you to IMBB for the fabulous product that it is!!

Today, I share with you another IMBB sponsored product. I have been wanting to try Shiseido foundation for ages. The reason I didn’t pick it (almost did – twice), was simply because when you have 8 running foundations, how do you justify buying a 9th one!!! Once I was about to pick it in Bangkok Duty free but then hubby put a upper limit to the shopping spree and I quickly took a call to take products now available in India instead. And once was a toss up in Shoppers stop between Shiseido and Guerlain and I picked Guerlain instead because this seemed cakey – which I realized was due to a dried up tester rather than a bad product. But decision was made.

Finally, thanks to IMBB, I got to try the Shiseido foundation and here’s my review on it.

The first thing which hits you about the foundatio nis the size of the black acrylic bottle – it comes in a teeny tiny bottle. Yes, the product is still 30ml – just like any other foundation but they seemed to have cut through the jazz and made the bottle just the same size as is really required. No ultra luxe shining glass bottle to be kept on your vanity table but a compact one to fit into your makeup pouch – Genius!!

The bottle comes with another practical addition – a nozzle. No pump to dispense too much liquid, no need to shell out extra money to buy an extra pump, nada….simple practical nozzle which allows you control on how much product you dispense out.

The bottle comes housed along with the literature in a typical Shiseido bright pink cardboard box.

My experience with Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation:

Shade: I’ve been wanting to try Shiseido foundation because it is originally an Asian cosmetic brand and hence, supposed to have foundations catering to the yellow Asian skin tone. No matter how non-pink the options in Dior and Guerlain be, they still aren’t yellow enough to look natural for our skintone.

The product has 4 shade categories – with various shade gradients within each. The 4 categories are –

In Bangkok, the shade recommended to me was B40 – maybe I looked pink compared to the obvious yellow undertones of the Thai people. When I checked the product in Shoppers stop India, I was correctly advised O40 instead – Thank God! I didn’t pick it in Bangkok!

A brief on my skin type – I have oily sensitive skin extremely prone to acne. So I invariably have a some new/old acne marks and a bit of redness. I am on the wrong side of 30, so struggle with fine lines around my eyes and dullness of skin (from time to time).

Pigmentation: As I mentioned earlier, the foundation can be squeezed out of the bottle through the nozzle. When you do that, the first thing which hits you is how runny it is – its fairly thin in consistency. The second thought which leaps into your mind is that with this thin a texture, the product will be less pigmented. Here is the biggest surprise – the foundation is amazingly pigmented. What does pigmentation mean in terms of foundation? It means that the colour pigment is so densely packed that the colour holds true and does not get blended away (like our domestically produced BB creams). This in turn means that a little product goes a long way – serving to be enough to cover the face as well as a slight blending of the neck.

Finish: The finish it gives is semi-matte – not the dry unnatural appearance certain matte foundations tend to give. There is a certain brightness and luminosity which appears on your face – not shine or shimmery sparkle. When I had tried this and Guerlain – I had this on one side of my face and Guerlain on the other. Everybody I asked, felt that this one brightened the face. The reason I still went with Guerlain was coz this had seemed a little cakey in comparison – you could make out that you had foundation on. The cause of this, I later realized, was because of two things – one, the application was not okay, the SA should have blended more; two, the product was out of a fairly dried up residual tester – it could not have given even finish. Both of these problems, I do not face with a fresh piece and the right brush (I use a stippling brush).

Coverage:The coverage it gives is medium – however, it can be built up in certain area where you need more coverage. I have a blemish on my chin – I generally use it as a gauge to figure coverage. Whether it is visible or how visible it is, helps me determine the coverage of a foundation / BB cream.

Texture: The texture of the foundation is extremely lightweight – as I mentioned earlier, its fairly runny. Further, when I use a stippling brush, the foundation feels airbrushed onto the skin. It dries off pretty quickly – so one has to be quick with the blending.

Lasting Power: The foundation lasts good 7 hours except when I rub my hand on my face coz of humidity/sweating or something – which can make it go patchy. The claim about 15+ hours is too much of a stretch. Even in fully air-conditioned environment, I do not see the wear time extending to 15+ hours.

The foundations needs to have decent moisturized base, If not blended properly, it could accentuate dry patches. With properly moisturized skin and proper blending, I do not face this issue.

To sum this up for you:

Pros of Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation:

1. Lightweight which brightens the face and adds luminosity. 2. Has SPF 15 3. Coverage – medium, can build upto full coverage 4. Semi – matte Finish 5. Great pigmentation – a little truly goes a long way 6. Covers skin redness effectively 7. Leaves no residue or stickiness on the face 8. Lasted for about 7 hours 9. It did not break me out 10. It did not settle in the fine lines on my face. 11. Easy to dispense – bottle with nozzle. 12. Easy to store and carry – extremely travel friendly design

Cons of Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation:

This is Holy Grail material Gurrls! Amazing product – lightweight, great colour selection, semi-matte finish which brightens the face, medium coverage and fairly long lating. The only reason I deduct a few points is because, it does not live upto the 15+ hours claim made by the Company.

This is now among my top 3 foundations – a must try! You may find your HG product and never need to look for another foundation again.

Yes, I did Shilpi – I picked it from Shoppers Stop. They may not have all the colours coz each country gets the colours more suited to its natives – but i think you’ll find your shade. I wanted to buy a backup and asked hubby to check in HongKong but they didn’t have the shade O 40 – apparently, its too dark for them! *waiting*

Sez me Rashmita! Im 36 – though I remember making a pack with God that I wasn’t supposed to go over 28…but he is ignoring my emails in this regard! rofl rofl Cant belief I’ll be 40 in a couple of years – which sounds so over the hill! But then, a decade back, even 30 seemed over the hill! rofl rofl